Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Chiefly British Vulgar Slang A person who masturbates.
- n. Chiefly British Vulgar Slang A detestable person.
Wiktionary
- n. A person who wanks.
- n. UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang, pejorative An idiot, a stupid, annoying or ineffectual person.
- n. UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang, pejorative Someone who shows off too much, a poser or poseur; someone who is overly self-satisfied.
- n. UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang, humorous, vulgar A very informal address used between friends.
WordNet 3.0
- n. terms of abuse for a masturbator
Etymologies
- From wank + -er. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“British, and the term wanker is meaningless british slang.”
“This wanker is a former German cabinet minister and parliamentary secretary in Germany's defence ministry. 19% of Germans believe the Yanks were responsible for 9/11, which may explain the success of this ridiculous tome - and also the fact that conspirozoids from around the world have chosen Berlin as the site for their big conference on September 7.”
“I'd rather call him/her just plain "wanker," with "eejit" a close second.”
“Webb addresses two of these areas, namely the blue collar whites, the beer track in wanker, and foreign policy credentials.”
“Being a wanker, is not just about jerking off, it is about making love with oneself, and that is all the love you have.”
“Start of the second gig, during the first song's tender, tentative intro, the audience quiet and attentive, some walk-in wanker expresses his support by shouting "Fuck the Beatles!".”
“That walk-in wanker's sitting on the floor beside me rocking his head back and forth, deeper into the music than maybe anyone else in the gig.”
“There's a Janet-Jackson's-Boob type flap in England because the word wanker was used on the air by some official.”
“i love the word wanker .... i love saying it out loud even tho people look at me like im strange ... u wanker lol”
“The above lie has been throoughly debunked and it is proven to originate from a talking point memo released by some GOP/conservative wanker, which is why Beaker meeped it all over the Senate floor.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘wanker’.
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UK - slang
chin wag, arse about, bollock, starkers, sweet Fanny Adams, skive, shufti, codswallop, rhyming slang, bollocks, nookie, skew-whiff and 208 more...
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EN-HU - important words for a HU inte...
Words only (I left out the expressions) from Geza Kerenyi's EN-HU interpreters' dictionary. Most of them pose some difficulty when interpreted between HU and EN in either or both directions.
abalone, abrasive, abstractionist, abstruse, abysmal, academia, accessibility, accessible, acclimate, accolade, accompanist, achiever and 1469 more...
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"Queen's" English
Collection of words from Old Blighty
sorted, sketchy, mate, oi, innit, ol' chum, brilliant, wicked, arse, bloody, bollocks, wanker and 12 more...
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people (bad)
nouns for bad people / words that describe bad people.
goto the good people list
( people, character, descriptor, noun )culprit, perpetrator, tormentor, swindler, bamboozler, nincompoop, thief, liar, back stabber, vandal, burglar, cheater and 85 more...
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britishisms
A tip of my hat to the snarkiest of English dialects. Here here!
Ponce, snog, bloody, barmy, blasted, blooming, bleeding, knackered, poppycock, wanker, tosser, cracked and 52 more...
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Kalli's Words
redundant, munchkin, escapade, natch, boom, fap, geek, nocturnal, pedantic, tactile, conversant, oxymoron and 188 more...
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Twitter faves
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
niglets, aw, flakey, shiznit, thatch, sexy, bummers, hotty, eargasms, ratchetry, weird, fab and 593 more... -
Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
thunderfuck, incredible, merp, sara, flopparoo, smother, fugly, buer, plum, canny, nefelibata, cuntbucket and 2434 more... -
generationnext's Words
petulant, vehement, pensive, lascivious, vacillate, histrionic, satiated, svelte, lithe, zeitgeist, viscous, sommelier and 526 more...
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Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
unfathomably, glice, cuh, fab, ciggaty, doll, thuggin, oxymoronic, pineapple, succubutt, griming, cheeky and 3027 more... -
~~Olde-Fashioned Insults~~
ragamuffin, muttonchops, tatterdemalion, nincompoop, whippersnapper, bootlicker, backscratcher, loggerhead, weisenheimer, hornswoggler, thimblerigger, quacksalver and 111 more...
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RocknRolla (2008)
Words from 2008 'RocknRolla' film.
drip, consent, foothold, bricks and mortar, mortar, councillor, let down, wand, clean out, leg-up, hasty, erect and 115 more...
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AbraxasZugzwang's Words
atavism, abraxas, sisyphean, frust, fetus-in-fetu, arhythmically, queef, epidemiology, abecedarian, troglodyte, chiaroscuro, philology and 631 more...
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Name-Calling for Fun and Profit
I figured out the thing all these terms have in common, besides that they can be used as insults. They all crack me up.
drip, yahoo, dweeb, nimrod, wanker, nincompoop, weasel, skank, fussbudget, dink, twit, guttersnipe and 125 more...
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My Words
Words that I use regularly and consider mine.
zen, poser, savvy, angst, flustered, bitter, whatsoever, farfetched, indeed, scenario, inevitable, salvage and 134 more...
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Handcraft
Gestures, signs and signals.
gesture, sign language, hand signal, manual communication, diving signal, tic-tac, gang signal, thumbs up, thumbs down, finger binary, pointing, a-ok and 106 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for wanker.

chained_bear Well... a bear can dream. :) Sep 27, 2009
pterodactyl Nope, no punchline. Just an honest question. Sep 27, 2009
sionnach pajero in Spanish. Sep 26, 2009
chained_bear It's only mild in the U.S. that I know of. I say it a lot and people giggle because it's a funny word. But if I (accidentally) say it in front of any British friends or when I'm overseas, people don't react well. Like Americans use "bloody" and think it's quaint, in the original culture it's still kind of curse-y.
What is the difference between a wanker and a tosser? Or was ptero setting up a punchline? ;) Sep 26, 2009
Prolagus Segaiolo in Italian. Sep 26, 2009
pterodactyl From my American point of view, "wanker" seems much more tame (and silly) than "jerk", and even a bit sillier than "tosser".
Hey, what is the difference between "wanker" and "tosser", anyway?
Sep 26, 2009
bilby Depends where you are, TSE. From an Australian point of view I'd have to agree with uselessness. Although he's from Albukerke. Sep 26, 2009
sionnach Agreed. A closer term to 'jerk' would be wanqueur. Sep 26, 2009
thesaraheffect I don't think this can really be compared with jerk. If it ever meant something to that effect, it has evolved to something much milder. Sep 26, 2009
uselessness Does the American word "jerk" really come from the same meaning? It's so... tame. Jan 21, 2008
arcadia Like the American version: jerk. Think about it. Jan 19, 2008